The sunlight filtered through the hospital window and struck my eyes like a blade. I flinched and rubbed them, blinking against the glare. As my vision adjusted, I slowly took in the state of my body.
Bandages wrapped almost the entirety of my small arms. Scars peeked through in places the wrappings didn't reach. My chest felt tight—not only from the pain, but also from the weight of memorys.
A TV mounted in the corner of the white room played quietly, just loud enough to hear. The screen showed a news broadcast... about me...
"Dear viewers, last night the Carter family suffered a devastating loss," a brown-haired woman in a blazer and glasses announced, her voice was even but clearly rehearsed. "The president of the World's one of the largest online shopping company, along with his wife and their seven-year-old son, died in a tragic car crash. Two additional casualties were reported, though their identities will remain unknown because it is requested by their family. The only confirmed survivor... is ten-year-old AlexCarter, the president's eldest son. His current condition is unknown but we can only wish him good luck for the rest of his life...."
I didn't even realize I was crying until the tears slid off my chin and into my hands. The warmth startled me. I wiped at my cheeks with my hands, trying to regain some control over myself.
When I turned my head, I saw him—myuncle—standing by the window and looking outside. He had blondehair, blueeyes like mine. Tall, built like someone who could've made a living on magazinecovers. But today his eyes were bloodshot, ringed with deep purple shadows and had tear marks all over his face. He probably hadn't slept.Not even a second. Since He didn't even noticed that ı was awake.
I looked around the white room once more, then spoke—soft, almost a whisper. "Uncle..."
He turned instantly, eyes locking onto mine. Without a word, he stepped over and sat beside me on the bed, pulling me gently into his arms.
His hand patted my back in slow, steady motions. For a moment, I just stood there, just existing. Then slowly I started to broke. My arms wrapped around him, and I buried my face into his shoulder as the tears took over.
And I cried...letting all my emotions go wild with my tears and shouted in a pathetic tone...
"Alex.... Alex!.....ALEX, WAKE UP!" The voice yanked me from the dream like a hook in my chest making me came back to the real world.
I sat up with a gasp, heart pounding, my breath shallow and fast. Khan was sitting next to me, wide-eyed with concern. Reality trickled back in, piece by piece—this wasn't the hospital. After our battle we decided to team up for a while and we defeated couple of trainers but after some time we grow tired and decided to rest for a while,ı must have passed out while laying down.
"You okay?" Khan asked, his voice low as he offered me a napkin.
"Y-yeah… why?" I took it, still unsure why ı saw the nightmare that stopped hunting me after ı grow up.
"You've been crying in your sleep for like… five minutes straight, man. I got worried." He gave my arm a light punch, trying to play it off, but his eyes stayed locked on mine.
I touched my face and felt the dried streaks of tears there. Quietly, I wiped them away as we stood there for a while. The silence that followed wasn't awkward—it was patient. He clearly wanted to ask what ı saw that made me cry that much,but he didn't.
Eventually, I sighed and gave in. "It was a drea-Nightmare from the past. I can tell you that much but nothing more!" I said while lifting my arm and tapped on the wristband. As it flickered to life, Khan mumbled under his breath.
"I already figured that much…"
He probably thought I didn't hear him, but I just rolled my eyes and focused on the screen trying to forget the Nightmare ı just saw.
[You lost 0 times! You won 12 times! Keep that up and you will win!]
I glanced at Khan's wristband to check his progress.
[You lost 2 times! You won 19 times! You can still win! Don't give up!]
He looked at the screen and then shot a look at me, scowling. "If you hadn't beaten my Ampharos, I could've used it against that Gyarados! And I wouldn't have lost my Rapidash!"
He pointed at me dramatically while I flicked his forehead in return.
"You were the one who insisted we battle! Don't act like you're some innocent victim here."
"And how was I supposed to know you can't use a Pokémon again once it faints?! And by the way why did you even used a Rapidash against a Gyarados?!" I added, trying to make my case.
Khan flicked the back of my head as revenge. "YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT! IT'S IN THE RULES!" And that Rapidash had Wild Charge..."
I muttered a curse under my breath at Rotom for not explaining all of the rules to me.
"Okay, okay! Don't worry! We've still got time to win this, right?" I said, grabbing him by the shoulders.
He shrugged off my hands and gripped my shoulders in return, looking around at the gray corridor that stretched out ahead of us, splitting into several paths.
"Yeah we have time till midnight but first we need to decide which way to go," Khan said before releasing my shoulders. He stepped forward into the corridor—once crowded with trainers battling like their lives depended on it. Now, the space felt strangely hollow. Quiet. The defeated had either been eliminated or withdrawn, leaving behind only the winnners. I guessed there couldn't be more than a hundred of us left.
"So it's turned into a battleroyale, huh…" I murmured, walking up beside him. Khan stood at a junction where three paths split off, each one marked by a tall gate with a glowing arch above it. He studied them like he was reading a map only he could see.
"It's hard to believe this used to be a straight path," he said, letting out a long, low whistle. "One road in and its just a forward one unlike this labyrinth"
"Yeah, but I think it's way better now," I replied, glancing down each passage. "Atleast its feel real."
"So," I asked, turning to him, "did you pick one yet?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he grinned and held out a finger, pointing at each gate in turn.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…
Catch a mouse by the toe…
If he squeals, let him go…
Eeny, meeny, miny... MOE!"
On the final word, his finger landed on the middle gate. He kept it there, eyes gleaming like he'd just found buried treasure.
"So—it's decided!" he declared triumphantly.
I let out a laugh, short and genuine, and for a second it pushed away the depressed thoughs which was still clinging to me.
"Alright then, middlegate it is," I said with a smile, taking my first steps toward it. "But aren't you a little old to be doing Eeny, meeny?"
"Hey!" he shot back, catching up to me with a mock-offended scoff. "I'm still young, funny, andsexy. Who cares how I make my decisions?"
We both laughed, our footsteps echoing down the corridor as we moved toward the glowing archway. For a while, things felt almost light. Almost normal and real.
But around two hours later, we heard bunch of trainers talking around the corner and just like that, the calm was over.
We crouched low behind the corner, just out of sight. Up ahead, gathered in a loose circle near a branching hallway, were at least ten trainers. They looked too coordinated to be strangers—they'd clearly teamed up but for why?
"Why would anyone group up with that many people?" I whispered, watching them carefully. "Isn't there supposed to be only one winner?"
Khan was peeking just past the edge of the wall, one eye trained on the group like a hunter tracking prey. "Yeah, there is," he murmured back. "But some people form alliances hoping there'll be a participation reward. Stick together till the end, split whatever's left. And then there are the rich brats—spoiled kids who rent trainers just to boost their win count and win the GrandPrize."
"Ugh," I muttered, shaking my head. "Hard to believe people like that exist."
He turned to glance at me, then shifted back to watch the group. "Annoying as hell, but they're real."
Khan smirked, licking his lips slightly like he was sizing up a buffet. "Yeah, but the upside? Most of those types don't even bother to check which Pokémon they're using. Since they are already paid they just throw out whatever they've got and hope it lasts. If ı am right, we might score some free wins."
He reached for his belt and unclipped a Pokéball, holding it low but ready. "But if ı am not! We're really Fucked!"
I mirrored him, sliding a Pokéball into my hand and giving a firm nod as ı patted his back. "And what if they run?"
"Then they get disqualified. Still counts as a win for us." His eyes glinted with anticipation. "Oh, and don't attack the Scyther I'm sending out."
I quickly swapped out my Arcanine's ball for a different one. "Fine—but stay off my Scizor too, got it?"
"Got it." he said smiling.
He started counting down, just loud enough for me to hear. "Three… two… one—go!"
We dashed out from cover and hurled our Pokéballs forward. The red flashes lit up the hallway like flames.
"Scyther, take down that Hitmonchan with Dual Wingbeat!" Khan commanded.
From his Pokéball burst a large, bright green insect with razor-sharp scythes for arms. Its wings buzzed furiously as it launched forward in a blur, striking the Hitmonchan with two quick, slashing hits. The fighting-type collapsed instantly, recalled by its stunned trainer before they could react.
The rest of the group panicked. Pokéballs flew through the air in all directions, most of them likely tossed without a clue what they were sending out. One poor fool even released a Bellossom—straight into a Bug-Flying Type.
"Scizor!" I shouted. "Bullet Punch every Rock, Fairy, and Ice type you see—and set up Tailwind! Before that!"
The moment my Scizor emerged, its sleek red armor glinted under the overhead lights. Normally slower than most, it exploded into motion the second the wind from its wings kicked up behind it. With a sudden gust that blew through the hallway, the air behind us surged—Tailwind.
Scyther and Scizor became blurs of red and green. Scizor's metallic fists landed precise, brutal punches on any vulnerable Pokémon in range, while Scyther soared from target to target with frightening grace.